Margaret Manny

Margaret Manny was a milliner in colonial Philadelphia who made flags for the United States during the American Revolution.

[1] She also supposedly made the Grand Union Flag, or Continental Colors, first flown by John Paul Jones aboard the Alfred on 3 December 1775.

This flag was thirteen red and white stripes, representing the union of the thirteen colonies, together with the combined crosses of St. Andrew and St. George in the canton or upper left quadrant retained from the Union Jack.

[2] While Betsy Ross is well known, not much is known about Margaret Manny, possibly because she had fewer articulate friends and relatives to build a story around her.

The goods were charged to the account of the ship Alfred, flagship of the squadron and, with 30 guns, largest of the first four.